Ireland Follow UK’s Lead With New Cryptocurrency Taskforce

Ireland seem to be the next country to establish a cryptocurrency and blockchain working group, designed to carry out research into the impact cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies can have on the country. Much like the United Kingdom, Irish authorities seem to be taking an investigative stance towards this, generating evidence through research to better inform any future regulations, instead of outlining regulations without really thinking about them, as we have seen from a few countries already. According to RTT News, the taskforce, known as the Irish Blockchain Expert Group (IBEG) is led by an Irish government agency, and aims to help and promote blockchain technologies within Ireland. According to RTT News, a representative from the company has said:

"Our aim is to be the go-to place for all blockchain-related news, queries and information for Ireland, so we will be focusing on curating relevant content and making it available on the website in a usable form."

Moreover, according to RTT News, Keith Fingleton, the Chief Information Officer of the IDA, the government branch of the taskforce has said:

"IBEG and the Blockchain Ireland initiative will assist blockchain projects and businesses in leveraging the beneficial environment in Ireland to foster increased innovation, and develop a national, European, and international blockchain ecosystem."

Reports also suggest that the University of Ireland Galway will also be helping to inform some of this research. You can see the full coverage of this article for yourself, here- http://www.rttnews.com/story.aspx?Id=2904119 This has great implications. Firstly, this news relates well to the recent investigation into blockchain technologies as proposed by the European Union and the European Commission, see our coverage of this story here- https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2018/06/european-union-seeking-public-opinion-on-cryptocurrencies/ Next, there is no reason the IBEG couldn’t partner up with the UK cryptocurrency taskforce within their investigations, perhaps even a quick comparison of their respective findings would help to contribute to the production of some very transparent cryptocurrency-based regulations. At the very least, this news cements Ireland down as a country with a view to adopt cryptocurrencies in the future, and that is indeed a good thing. Moreover, with such a booming tourism industry, we could expect these areas of the country to see an integration of blockchain technology sooner, should the IBEG take such an approach in their investigations. For now, we need to wait and see what sort of communications and publications the IBEG bring out with regards to this. We imagine it is going to be fast paced work and therefore, soon enough we will be able to see the true stance from Ireland, with regards to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies.